How To Know If Your Solar Panels Are Working
How To Know If Your Solar Panels Are Working
You’ve added solar to your home and you're now becoming a smart energy producer and consumer. Congratulations!
Solar panels require very little maintenance over their usable life and are built to last for decades. That said, you will undoubtedly want to check on your solar panels from time to time to make sure they are working properly.
Inspect your Inverter
If solar panels are the brawn of your solar energy system, then the inverter is the brain. Your inverter makes the direct current (DC) produced by your solar panels useable as alternating current (AC) for your home. The inverter is the first place to check to make sure your solar energy system is working properly.The efficiency of residential solar panels depends on whether they are connected to a traditional inverter, microinverters or direct current (DC)-optimizers; and whether the screen stays on or off. Red or orange indicator lights could mean your home solar system is experiencing problems.
Examine your electric bill
Going solar can significantly reduce or eliminate your electric bill. You should expect to pay less to your electric company and/or be credited for the excess energy your home is producing. If not, it’s possible that your solar panels are not performing correctly.Monitor Your Production
Now that you know which inverter you have, how exactly do you find out how many kWh of solar power your panels are pumping out at any given time? This is where monitoring comes in! Typically, your meter will cycle through different screens. You should pay particular attention to the one displaying the total kilowatt-hours that your solar panels are generating. If your kilowatt-hours are increasing, you shouldn’t worry about your solar meter at all.Here at Viridis Energy we use SunPower monitoring and you can check your usage with a simple app on your Phone! You can't get easier than that! Beware, you may get addicted to watching how much you save every day!
Give Viridis Energy a Call
If you ever have any questions about your home solar system’s performance, please feel free to contact Viridis Energy. We put the customer first and are here to answer any questions you may have. You can reach us at: (781) 829-3400
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